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Friday, 9 May 2014

The Pros and Cons of Moving

Today is International blog swap day and the control freak that I am has let the lovely Jaz from Red Dolls take over my blog. As my husband I are often discussing the idea of moving it's interesting to see another persons take on it. So enough from me and over to Jaz.

Hi, my name is Jaz and I write a blog called Red Dolls. I’m at a bit of a loss as to what to write about so I thought I would share my current situation with you and ‘think out loud’ our decision making process.

We currently live in a town called Kalgoorlie which is about 600kms (373miles) east of Western Australia’s capital city, Perth. Kalgoorlie is a mining town that has been around since gold was first discovered by an Irishman named Paddy Hannan in the late 1700s. The nearest beach is 400kms away but we love camping and motorbike riding so we have enjoyed living here and raising our son and daughter in the bush. We have been offered a position to move up north to a town called Port Hedland, which is both a golden opportunity and a bit of bummer. It’s a golden opportunity because the company will provide accommodation, once we rent our current home out we will be rent/mortgage free which is a fantastic chance to save money. The bummer is it means we are moving even further away from family and friends (most of which live in Perth) than we already are here in Kal.

To give you an idea of how big WA is I have downloaded a map but also done a little google fact finding. The UK would fit into WA 10.4 times, if you drove from (please forgive any inaccuracies; I’ve not been out of the country so I’m not speaking from experience!) Penzance, Cornwall to Thurso, Highland via the A9 (so I’m told) it would take 13 hours and 15 minutes to cover 1316kms (818 miles). Kalgoorlie to Port Hedland is 1594kms (991miles) and would take 19 hours to drive, I’m pretty sure could fly from Perth to London in that time, it is crazy!

I’ve put together a pros and cons list, maybe so you can see how my little mind ticks away or maybe because I still need convincing myself…

So let’s work through this….

Being hot is one thing but being hot, sticky and sweaty is another thing all together. I do prefer the heat over the cold though so I’m just going to have increase my water and electrolyte intake and suck it up.

Moving is rubbish, but culling is good – be gone years and years of clutter and crap a family accumulates be gone!

I don’t know anyone. I’ve always thought I should get involved with the school P&C, I never did because I can’t handle a lot of other Mums. I’m going to cross my fingers and hope for the best, it’s a great way to meet people and good for the kids for me to be involved.

I love our house here, its rammed earth and it is our dream home but I get the feeling that one who is going to be rent free isn’t really in the position to complain.

When I say ages from anywhere I mean Perth, however flights every year for the family are included in the package so there goes that excuse. The Pilbara is also home to Karijini National Park, think beautiful gorges and rock pools and lots of wildlife - people travel from all over the world to visit. For us it will be a three hour drive away, there goes that excuse as well.

Uprooting the kids and no support network. My kids are 8 and 3 so they are small enough to shuffle around without too much drama (one hopes!) it’s better than trying to convince teenagers I’m sure. I have to have faith that we will meet supportive people. There is a land care group that teach how to grow a sustainable vegetable garden suited to the harsh conditions. The same group monitor the flat head turtles that use the beaches as their nesting grounds, volunteers are need to tag the turtles and record the numbers of eggs and hatchlings. Not only does that sound like a unique and brilliant thing to do with me and the kids but hopefully I’ll meet some like-minded folks.

Cost of living is expensive. Duh, it’s expensive everywhere – do I have to remind myself again about the no mortgage thing? I think that will provide the adequate leeway.

Well there you go, I’ve answered all my own questions and can no longer find a valid argument for staying where I am. Thank you for listening and feel free to get in touch to point something out or ask any questions, I’m always happy to chat!

Oh, I forgot the most important thing:

Chilli Mud Crab!! You don’t get these beauties in Kalgoorlie that’s for sure! I just have to be careful not to lose a finger whilst I’m trying to get them in my belly!! Mmmmmmmm……

4 comments:

What an amazing opportunity to be given but I understand that there's a difficult decision to be made too. Like you say, at least your children are young so hopefully won't hold it against you! Good luck with your decision making.

As someone who moved from the UK to Mexico last year with 4 year old children, giving up my job in process I understand some of the difficulties in the desicion making process. The last year has been both one of the hardest and best years of my life.

And the very best of luck to you Jaz - amazing! We've been to Perth and travelled through some of Australia so I can kind of comprehend the vastness of the place and how difficult it is to get from one city to another. I am sure that this will be a fabulous opportunity for you all.